


and heartache came to visit me

by love_killed_the_superstar



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, Gem Egg Hell, Gemlings, Gen, Multi, not oviposition, set before during and after week of sardonyx, we really need a better tag for non-ovi gem egg hell
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-17
Updated: 2015-10-02
Packaged: 2018-04-21 05:29:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4816841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/love_killed_the_superstar/pseuds/love_killed_the_superstar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There was never a good time to tell Rose Quartz about the geodes.</p>
<p>(And now there never would be.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. these hands are small i know

**Author's Note:**

> BRINGIN THE ANGST! YEA  
> I'm so sorry, I know I swore I would only bring heartache to the rosepearl ao3 tag when it was absolutely necessary, but this idea was eating me up after I was talking about it with poultrypalooza. Basically the premise was, what if geodes took hundreds of years to form rather than a few months?? That wait would not only be completely agonising, but also heartbreaking if your partner was no longer around. Which brings me onto the pain. Feel free to kill me after this I'm so sorry  
> (title comes from the song hands by jewel)

There was never a good time to tell Rose Quartz about the geodes.

Pearl supposed other gems would be envious that she was mostly unaffected by the usual symptoms of geode formation – while she did get headaches from time to time, they were never so serious that they were noticeable to the other gems, and her temperature rarely if ever fluctuated.

In reality it was a curse.

Maybe if she displayed obvious signs it would be easier for Rose to figure out for herself that Pearl was carrying. Maybe if Pearl hadn't put up so many protective walls around them, she would have sensed them when they fused. (Rainbow Quartz, as social as she usually was, was oddly quiet and reserved since she had started to carry.) That said, gems carrying geodes weren't supposed to fuse. The chemical imbalance could corrupt the geodes and affect the host. A tiny, self-loathing part of Pearl's subconscious wished it would.

Whether it had or not, Pearl didn't know. Only time would tell. It wasn't like she was never planning on telling Rose – it just wasn't something she had anticipated, and once she became aware of the problem, there was a fear in the back of her mind. She knew that Rose loved her, even if she had days filled with doubt, but geodes were something they had seldom talked about ever, and they had confirmed with each other a long time ago in casual conversation that geodes took away individuality in gems – carbon copies of gems reeked of Homeworld, and Pearl knew that was what Rose despised more than anything.

Knowing that made it so much more difficult to work up the courage to tell Rose, so for the first couple hundred years she didn't say a word on the matter. Then Greg Universe came along, and as much as Pearl detested the goofy free spirited human with the gravelly singing voice, his presence in Rose's life gave her all the more reason to put off saying anything – at least until he was dead a few decades later. She wasn't worried. He was a passing phase, and he bought her more time.

When Rose explained to them that she was expecting a human child, every piece of courage she had scavenged for towards telling Rose over the years left her gem entirely. How could she say anything now? Rose would be so disappointed at her for not saying something sooner. It was all she could do not to cry.

The early years of raising Steven left her with little room to wonder about what could have been, and Pearl threw herself into parenting if only to keep it off her mind. But there would be moments when his gem would glow or he would start to say words, and she would briefly wonder if this is how it would be if Rose had stayed and they had raised geodes together, instead of a human child. Sometimes she would cry herself into an uneasy stasis, still holding Steven in her arms, and wake twenty minutes or so later when he got uncomfortable in her arms.

Then he got older, and Pearl stopped thinking about them so much. Rose's absence was still fresh in her mind, but she knew better than to dwell on the geodes still manifesting in her gem. But by the time he had reached age 11, her gem was starting to hurt regularly again.

The geodes would be ready to come out soon.

How she cried. Sitting alone in her room, a sobbing mess.

 

…

 

When she took a bad turn, yelled at all of them, yelled at _Steven_ , cried until everything hurt... it had been for Rose.

There was guilt there, overwhelming guilt amongst the heartbreak and the anguish she felt at the realisation that perhaps she wasn't as important to Rose as she thought. When she had calmed down she realised the reason for her tears was the knowledge that she too had these secrets, things she couldn't even tell Rose.

And now she couldn't tell Steven, either.

 

…

 

When Steven and Connie approached her about sword fighting, she realised how much Connie reminded her of herself, when she was a young gem still so naïve about the world. She didn't know what she wanted really, just that she wanted Rose to win, she wanted to fight for Rose, and most importantly, she wanted Rose to be alive. Even if it meant her own life.

At this point in time, she felt closer to her younger self than ever.

Frankly, she didn't value her life anymore. Not without Rose to guide her through this.

 

…

 

When she fell asleep that night for the first time, her thoughts and desires fell into the categories of Rose and Steven and Offspring. In her dream they were there. Rose was pregnant – with Steven? With their own geode babies? Pearl wasn't sure. She was just so overwhelmingly grateful that Rose was there.

“I'm just so glad to be spending time with you, Rose,” she had gushed. Her hands caressed Rose's taut stomach, uncaring of whether Steven or other gemlings were resting in there. When Rose turned around and spoke in Greg's voice, had Greg's face... well, Pearl woke with a start and vowed never to dream again.

Later that night, when sleep was inevitable, she dreamed of Rose's disappointment upon presenting her with their geodes, the geodes they had made together all those years ago.

“How could you keep something so important from me, Pearl?” Rose's voice was laced with hurt, and Pearl's insides twisted.

“I'm sorry,” she wept, “I didn't know how to tell you, I'm sorry...”

Her dream evaporated into the world around her as she drifted into consciousness. She caught Amethyst staring at her out of the corner of her eye, the younger gem's expression horrified.

“Is it true? Are you really...?”

Pearl sat up abruptly, daring her to finish her sentence. Was Amethyst starting to inherit psychic abilities too? She dreaded the thought of once again being left behind in the wake of their superior power.

“...I don't know what you mean, Amethyst,” Pearl said curtly when Amethyst failed to speak. She glanced over at Steven, who was sleeping soundly on top of Garnet's hair. “Now be quiet. Steven's asleep.”

Amethyst went to say something else, but fell silent once more, before frowning and rolling over to face away from Pearl. Well, good. She could keep up the façade a little longer.

 

…

 

Oh, she knew forming Sardonyx was a bad idea. It had felt good at first, beautiful, even, but then she got desperate. She knew the geodes would be arriving soon, and she still had no plan of action. And being Sardonyx was so intoxicating...

Of course, it fell apart quickly, she grew too hungry for the feeling of being fused and the heightened chances of it ruining the geodes so nearly ready to enter the world, she grew careless. She was found out, and naturally it became all too clear just how damaging the experience had been to the team as a whole, not just Garnet. Everyone was miserable. She didn't know how to regain Garnet's trust without revealing to her the nature of her condition, and nothing terrified her more than telling Garnet about this while their relationship hung by a thread as it was. It was something that couldn't be fixed.

Eventually, by some miracle, she was accepted back into Garnet's arms. Garnet wanted her to move forward. Wanted her to forget about Rose. It wouldn't be easy, she knew that, but she also knew that when – if – the geodes came out, there would be one less thing holding her back. She wasn't ready to let go of Rose's hold on her completely, but this would be her private first step forward.

 

…

 

And she worked hard to move on, until one day the pain worsened, excruciatingly so. It was obvious. She was a mess. She snapped at Steven, fell flat on her face, trembled. In the end she shut herself up in her room and sat on a taller fountain, far from prying eyes. Pearl rocked back and forth as the pains kept coming, over and over and over again, each more overwhelming than the last. Thoughts of Rose plagued her mind as she struggled against the intense surges of heat in her gem. She was selfish. She was a bad gem.

_Damn Rose. How could she have not known? She should be here, holding my hand and telling me it will soon be over... if she was still here, maybe this wouldn't be so hard..._

These thoughts, in all their cruelness, made tears spill from closed eyes. She hugged her body as harsh sobs seized her, willing everything to fade away.

_It was your own fault. You were a fool. You could have told Rose but you didn't because you're a coward. How pathetic._

She sat in the dim light of her room for hours, crying, begging Rose's name, and when the time finally came she pulled three rose quartz geodes out of her gem and laid them down in front of her, cries coming out in heaving breaths as she realised they were all Rose, _of course they were all Rose._

What was she going to do with them?

Her first instinct was to smash them. But... she couldn't do that. She could bubble them and then they wouldn't form into gemlings, they would stay in their geode state forever. But what if Garnet saw? She was amazed Garnet hadn't foreseen this, but she felt that Garnet would have brought up a situation as dire as this much sooner if she'd known. With a little more focus she could send the eggs to a small corner of her room, far away from the others and far away from herself.

“Oh, Pearl...”

Pearl jumped, the first bubble still in her hands, and she turned quickly to lay eyes on the intruder. Garnet and Amethyst had apparently entered through Amethyst's room, presumably after hearing Steven's tales of her odd behaviour, and they stared with a mixture of shock and understanding as they laid eyes on the geodes in her possession. Her mind raced.

“G-Garnet. Amethyst. What are you doing here?”

“We could ask you the same thing,” Amethyst said sharply. She pointed a finger at Pearl accusingly. “When I asked you about this you denied it, Pearl!”

“You didn't even finish what you were going to say,” Pearl retorted indignantly. “How could I have deduced from an incomplete question-”

“Don't bullshit me, Pearl!” Amethyst snapped, rising to her feet. “You knew what I was going to say and you denied it! Why did you lie like that?!”

“Amethyst,” Garnet interrupted, touching her shoulder. “Let me talk to her.”

Amethyst fell silent, still seething. Garnet rose to her feet too, towering over Pearl.

“How long were you carrying for?” she asked coolly.

“...A few hundred years,” Pearl said, much quieter this time. “About five hundred, I think.”

“ _Five hundred-”_ Amethyst began to shout. Garnet held up a hand again, before kneeling down to meet Pearl's gaze.

“Did Rose know?”

“Rose-” Pearl swallowed, eyes stinging, before glancing down at the bubbled gem in her hands. “R-Rose didn't know. I could never tell her.”

“Why?”

Garnet's voice was neutral, her expression unreadable. Was she going to shout too? Was she going to scold Pearl for being so childish about something so important? Pearl hung her head.

“Rose never wanted geodes,” Pearl said softly. “She despised them. She despised how they were copies of their parent gems. It reminded her of Homeworld.”

“So you took it upon yourself to keep it hidden, for her sake,” Garnet stated. Beside her, the visible anger on Amethyst's face was beginning to melt away, replaced by distress.

“It – It wasn't supposed to be like this,” she tried to tell them, eyes beginning to fill with tears again. _Useless, useless._ “It wasn't supposed to get so out of hand. I tried to extract them early, I tried to fuse often so I could ruin them, but nothing _worked._ I swear, I... I was going to say something one day but then she-” Pearl hiccuped. “She said she was going to have Steven, and I couldn't tell her about it anymore... since she wasn't going to be there to see them-”

Her voice broke and she started to cry again, wishing she could just leave, vanish from existence so she wouldn't have to face their disappointment. If she could just fade away, they wouldn't have time to change her mind and show her to care about the geodes. She wouldn't be able to love them like she was supposed to.

Pearl barely registered Garnet taking the bubble from her shaking hands and dissolving it, she didn't notice her lay the geode beside the other two, and nothing in that moment felt real until Amethyst's arms wrapped around her, pulling her into a tight embrace. Garnet's arms soon enveloped the two of them, and she buried her head into Amethyst's mane of hair.

“I wish I'd told her,” she wailed.

“We know.”

“I never wanted them either.”

“We know.”

 


	2. but they're not yours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gems tell Steven. Tensions rise in the group.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter, and it's pretty grim n angsty. That's all I can say, really.

“Were the gemlings a reason for you wanting to fuse with me, Pearl?”

The three of them were tied together, a tangle of limbs and tears. Amethyst and Pearl lay on top of Garnet, Pearl's head resting in Amethyst's hair while Amethyst rubbed Pearl's back soothingly. Pearl's cries had quietened, and her body had finally stopped trembling. She had, however, frozen up at Garnet's question.

“I wasn't lying in my explanation,” Pearl replied quietly, bowing her head in shame. “But I declined to mention that in fusing often I had hoped to lower the chances of the geodes lasting long enough to be extracted. I hoped all they needed were a few more pushes but... I'm so sorry, Garnet. I know I disappointed and upset you by doing that, and I know you don't approve of me using fusion for destructive purposes. I was just so afraid of facing the truth. I'm sorry.”

“It's not okay,” Garnet said firmly, and Pearl nodded, eyes welling up. “It was wrong and I'm disappointed that you would try do use these tactics to escape your problems. I'm disappointed that you would use me not only to ease your insecurities, but also to destroy the life manifesting within you. But right now you're in no state to receive this lecture from me. We'll talk about this later.”

Pearl nodded in agreement, too exhausted to protest. What would she even say? Garnet had every right to be mad, and Pearl knew she deserved it.

How long had they been lying there? It was almost morning. Steven would be waking up soon.

“I sent the geodes to the crystal heart for incubation,” Garnet said to fill the silence. “They'll be safe there.”

“We can't do that. We have to bubble them,” Pearl murmured. “If we don't they'll create physical forms.”

“Pearl.” Garnet untangled herself from the gems and stared down at her. “Why don't you want the geodes to become gemlings?”

“Why?” Pearl shook her head in disbelief. “T-They're gem _copies_! We can't just allow them to grow! Why, they're rose quartz geodes, Garnet – if we let them grow they'll look just like Rose, and – and think of Steven, he can't know about this!”

“Why not?” Garnet's voice was steady. “Steven is a lot more adaptable than we think. He responded well when he found out I was a fusion, because Steven understands love in all its forms. If he found out about your relationship with Rose, there are only two potential futures where he interprets it as a negative thing.”

“Two still makes it a possibility, Garnet!” Pearl cried. “I've already hurt him before. The last thing I want to do is upset him further.”

“Maybe so,” Garnet said evenly, “but under these circumstances, is that really for you to decide anymore?”

Pearl fell silent.

“Eh, I reckon he'll warm up to them,” Amethyst piped up when the tension became too much for her. “I mean, the kid's got more love in his heart than we can fathom sometimes.”

“I know Steven will love them,” Garnet said simply. “They'll be his siblings.”

Pearl buried her head in her arms at that.

 

…

 

“What is it you wanted to tell me, guys?” Steven asked. The gems had been in an odd mood all day so he had decided to leave them alone, and had somehow ended up playing video games until late afternoon. They had crept up while he was playing Golf Quest, and the solemn looks on their faces prompted him to save and turn his screen off.

First they looked at Pearl to tell him her news; when she couldn't find the words, choosing instead to bury into Garnet's arm, Garnet sighed and took hold of the situation herself.

“Steven... we have a favour to ask of you.”

He sat up straighter, his gaze burning into each of them.

“Me?! What is it?”

“We want to know how you would feel about having... siblings.”

Steven's face contorted in confusion. “Siblings? You mean like brothers or sisters? That isn't possible. Dad isn't even in a relationship.”

“We meant on... Rose's side.”

He stared blankly for a few moments. “...What are you talking about? Mom is... well, _me_.”

“Gems...” Pearl spoke up at last, in a hushed voice. “Gems grow at a different rate than human offspring, Steven. For hundreds of years, I-” She swallowed, shutting her eyes tightly. “I carried your mother's geodes within my gem. It was foolish of me not to say anything, but I-”

“Wait, gems can have babies?! Why did nobody tell me about this until now?!”

They blinked in surprise, taken aback by his reaction.

“W-Well,” Amethyst began, “We didn't tell you because we didn't think there was anything to tell... it's not like we're off having gem babies or anything.” She glanced at Pearl and added hastily, “Well, at least not until now, that is.”

“It's not a common occurrence in gem culture, so it didn't feel important to mention, but... the geodes I conjured from my gem... they're all Rose's, Steven.” Pearl buried her head in her knees. “When they create physical forms they'll resemble her, I think.”

Steven furrowed his brow. “These gems will look like Mom?”

“We believe so. They are rose quartz geodes, so they will have the same gem,” Garnet explained. “It's possible that the physical forms will take on different appearances to your mother, but there is a high possibility that at least one will hold an almost identical resemblance to her.”

“I'm sorry for keeping it a secret. I'm also sorry for keeping the relationship between your mother and myself a secret. I was afraid of damaging her memory and... I didn't want you to think any differently or her or myself. It was wrong to keep these things hidden, though, especially in regards to the geodes. I'm sorry.” Pearl spoke to Steven, but turned to Garnet and Amethyst when she had finished. Her eyes were filled with pain. “I'm so sorry for all of the trouble I've caused.”

“It's something that can't be helped now,” Garnet said with a shrug. “All we can do now is move forward.”

Amethyst said nothing, but shrugged as though to state she had no comment, positive or negative, to add to Pearl's apology.

Steven stood up and moved to where Pearl was perched on the end of the bed. He tentatively reached out and wrapped his arms around her.

“I already knew you liked my mom,” he said softly enough for only Pearl to hear, and tears filled her eyes. “I'm really happy to have new sisters. And – and I know you didn't say anything because you were just scared. But it's sad that Mom won't get to meet them.”

“It's for the best,” Pearl insisted, hugging him back. “But thank you, Steven.”

“For the best?” echoed Steven, thoroughly confused. “But why? Mom would love them, I know she would.”

An abrupt clap interrupted the gems from their thoughts.

“Okay, it's time we all got some rest,” Garnet declared, rising to her feet. “It's a lot to take in, so we'll discuss it in the morning. I think we all need some rest tonight.”

“Can Pearl stay with me?” Steven asked, still clinging to her.

“No.” Garnet's voice was firm. “Pearl has to rest too. She could use this time to think.”

Pearl lowered her head and pulled away from Steven.

“Goodnight, Steven.”

She headed down the steps and towards the temple, hurriedly stepping into her room. She hopped from fountain to fountain, climbing higher and higher, until she finally reached the tallest, most difficult of her fountains to climb. She lay down on her side and her anguish caught up with her. She bit down on her fist as hard as she could and held back the heaving sobs in her throat.

“Will she be okay?” Steven asked, eyes wide and uncertain. Amethyst reached forward to ruffle his hair.

“She'll be fine, bud, it's just been hard for her being so upfront and honest for once in her life.”

“I know you aren't happy about her keeping secrets, Amethyst, but from now we're dropping this.”

Amethyst growled.

“Oh, yeah? You mean you aren't pissed that she used you and Sardonyx to try and ki-”

“That's enough, Amethyst.” Garnet's tone was firm, tight with warning. “Not in front of Steven. There's a time and a place.”

“Okay then, _when_ and _where_ are you going to accept what she tried to do, Garnet?! To Rose's geodes, as well-”

“For the last time-”

“Guys!” Steven's cry disrupted their argument. Both gems turned to the youngest gem, clutching his MC Bearbear to his chest. “Whatever bad things happened, they happened, and we can't change them. Pearl knows it was wrong not to tell us. But we can't fight now, soon we'll have new gems to take care of.”

“You're right, Steven,” Garnet said with a nod. She turned back to Amethyst, putting a hand on her shoulder. “I know you're upset; I am too. But we have to move forward from this. Soon there will be gemlings under our care, and they will be our family. We can't solely blame Pearl. You know how much Rose's feelings influenced her.”

“I don't care, she still messed up,” Amethyst snapped. She lowered her gaze. “Whatever, I'm leaving. Night, Ste-man.”

“Night,” he echoed, reaching for his pjs. He watched Garnet and Amethyst leave, before beginning to change. There really was a lot to take in. Sisters? Baby gems? Baby gems who would look like his mother?

Steven lay back, staring up at the ceiling while clutching MC Bearbear to his chest. Tomorrow would be better. It would. _It would._

 

…

 

When morning finally came, Steven awoke to the gems sitting around the kitchen table with a tense silence hanging over them. Steven quickly recalled the events of the night before and frowned. He didn't understand very much of what had transpired, besides the fact that Pearl and his mother had somehow created new gems hundreds of years ago, but he knew things were incredibly awkward between his three guardians currently.

“G-Good morning,” he mumbled, approaching the island. Pearl and Amethyst glanced up, Amethyst muttering a, “Morning, Steven,” before returning to brooding.

“...I'll make you breakfast,” Pearl offered after a disjointed pause, standing shakily and heading over to the cupboards.

“Soooooo,” Steven began, taking a seat. “Um, did you guys... sleep well?”

Amethyst made a so-so gesture with her hand, while Garnet remained with her arms folded, though uttered, “We've all had time to think.”

Pearl tensed up.

“We're gonna stick to the plan, raise the gemlings. You know, so they can act as a last option if Homeworld rolls around again.”

“We can't send gemlings into battle, Amethyst,” Garnet deadpanned. “They will most likely take half a century to mature fully, so they will hardly be able to summon a weapon in thirty years, let alone hold their own in a battle.”

“They're going to stay babies for fifty years?” Steven echoed, disbelieving. “That means I'll be... um... sixty one years old before they even grow up to be like you guys!”

Thinking that far ahead was hard. Amethyst shifted in her seat uncomfortably, noting the mood had once again dropped to an all time low.

“That's right. So it's important that we stay together and work out our problems, because once they create physical forms they will trust us with their lives without question. We need to provide them with a welcoming environment.”

Steven nodded, absorbing the information, before Pearl caught his attention.

“Pearl, the milk!”

“Huh?”

Pearl's hand jerked as the milk from Steven's bowl overflowed, and she stared at it blankly.

“Oh... I'm sorry, Steven, I filled it up too much.”

“That's okay, I can manage,” Steven said quickly, taking the heavy bowl from her and beginning to tuck into it. The cereal was soggy but he knew now wasn't the time or place to create a fuss. “So... um, can I see them later? The geodes, I mean?”

Pearl froze.

“I don't see why not,” Garnet said after a moment of internal debate. “They'll be creating physical forms soon, probably within the week, so if you want to see them before forming that's reasonable enough.”

“But Garnet, it's dangerous in the temple-”

“I'll take him. I'll keep him at my side so no harm comes to him,” Garnet said coolly. “They're his siblings. He can see them if he wants to.”

“For once, that isn't your call to make,” Pearl snapped. Garnet's expression didn't change, but her next words had an icy coating.

“Since you didn't handle the situation very well at all, I think I have the authority to take the initiative.”

Pearl backed down with a hurt look, before turning her back on them and heading towards the temple.

“I'm going to my room,” she said distantly, before disappearing behind her door.

Steven ate three quarters of his cereal in subdued silence, but found he couldn't finish it, the excess milk leaving him feeling slightly nauseated. He pushed away the bowl and Garnet picked it up and placed it in the sink without pouring the remnants of the food away.

“Can I see them now?” he asked, and Garnet nodded.

“Follow me.”

He stood quickly and tailed her to the temple door, following her through the bubble room and up a series of corridors and staircases. When they reached the crystal heart Steven saw them straight away. Three deep pink stones, shimmering slightly as they basked in the warm red glow of the heart. They seemed to fit perfectly into grooves embedded in the surface of the heart, as though they had always belonged.

Steven felt his eyes mist up a little, seeing them there. They were pieces of his mother he had only ever heard about; a manifestation of her oldest love. She really did love Pearl like she loved his dad.

“Why did Pearl say it was for the best that Mom didn't know them?” he asked quietly. “They're a part of her. She would have loved them.”

Garnet said nothing for a few moments. When she finally spoke, her words held a reluctance to them.

“Rose... was unhappy with Homeworld. Homeworld preached that every gem must be the same, and act the same. Rose wanted individuality for all gems, and through the rebellion we could have that.” She smiled and stared down at outstretched hands, at each gem winking at her. “It was what we wanted too, we were all so different from Homeworld's expectations. Me as a fusion, Rose as an activist... Pearl had her reasons too, but that's her story to tell, not mine.”

She exhaled for emphasis. “But Rose was really quite set in her ways. She wasn't fond of natural gem reproduction, simply because geodes harbour gems that are carbon copies of their parent gems. I believe these gems can find their own paths, be their own gems, but geodes and gemlings always reminded Rose of Homeworld.”

Steven absorbed this information with a sullen expression.

“Well, what did you think?”

“I think every gem can be an individual if they allow themselves to tear free of the expectations of others.”

“Did you ever have gemlings?” Steven asked, watching ahead as the geodes continued to incubate, shimmering slightly.

“I did, once. Well, Ruby and Sapphire did. They didn't survive past the incubation stage, though. They never shimmered like these ones do.”

Steven looked up at her, noting the smile had left her face. He reached for her nearest hand and clasped it in his own, giving it a comforting squeeze. The gem felt cool against his hand.

“I'm sorry.”

“Don't be. It was during a time of war. They wouldn't have led fulfilling lives. Sapphire looked into hundreds of potential futures. If they had incubated successfully they still would have been smashed in battle or corrupted over time. It was never meant to be.”

He turned away, staring back at the geodes, though his eyes were starting to blur.

“Does the shimmering mean something?” he asked finally, trying to control the waver of his voice.

“It means the gemlings inside are starting to generate physical forms. When they're strong enough to sustain one, they'll break out of the geode.”

“And do you know how much longer that'll be?”

“Not very long. That's why we need to work together to ease the tensions in the group.” Garnet squeezed his hand back. “Pearl is in a bad state right now, so even if we're upset we have to be gentle. For now, we have to move forward. Calming down Amethyst is our first step, and giving Pearl space in that time is also what needs to be done. Can you help me with this, Steven?”

He nodded firmly, tearing his eyes away from the glimmering pink geodes to meet Garnet's controlled gaze.

“I promise.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter we meet the gemlings, maybe Pearl will even start to love them, who knows.

**Author's Note:**

> This is going to have multiple chapters, though probably no more than three since it was intended to be a oneshot. Next chapter we get Steven's reaction!! (I have no idea when next chapter will roll around, this is just how I do...)  
> Leave a comment if you liked it, or if you want to destroy me for writing this, either is good


End file.
